Air-control steam-valve.



J. A. HICKS.

AIR CONTROL STEAM VALVE.

Y APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1908.

Patented oet. 1.2;1909.

. /N .WN k.

JAMES A.

HICKS, OF ATLlNTg GEORGIA.

l AIR-comision STEAM-venza l To all whom it may concern: I'

Be it known that I, JAMES A. Hionspcitizen of the United States, residing at .Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and use ful improvements in Air Control Steam- Yalves, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to fluid pressure controlling apparatus and in its present application is` shown as adapted to 'steam 'heating appliances, particularly' those used in connection with' steamvlieating systems for railroad cars, although obviously not of necessity confined to that particular use it may be adapted to other heating demands, and to other apparatus Where an automatic anddeliect-ive control of Huid pressure is desire the steam Valve of'a heating system, this au`v tomatic control being eifected byair Ypressure, preferably derived from the kept in open position, but should 'the air pressure fall for any reason, as for example, by breaking of train line or ther sourceol iiir-pressure, due to accident ""rb# or oth ei normal conditions, the steam valve will yauf all danger oit' filling the cars with scalding steam from the radiating toiriatically close and system will be eliminated.

Furthermore', my system of air pressure control is of such construction as to permita regulation of the amount of steam'delivered to theradiating system from the boiler; this regulation oi steam pressure, after such pressure has been once determined, being automatically con-- trolled by the apparatus.

Another feature of the system is the provision of a manual valve controlling the airpre'ssure for theautoniatic steam valve, so that Asuch steam valve may, if desired, be cut oil' from air-pressure. i In order that the invention may be understood by those skilled in the art, l hare illusv tra-ted in the drawings herewith, one eni- Speciicaticn of Letters Patent. l .Application ered yseptember 15, isos.

Briefly stated, my invention iii its present expression discloses the automatic control of f' train' line]4 sothat, as long as air pressure is maintained,v although not necessarily confined to thi source, iis the air pressure might come from any suitable source, the steam valve' will be' Patent-ed @eti l2, llllh seriai no. 453,155.

bodiinent of my invention, and in said draw- I ing-s; Figure l is a View, partly in section, of my invention. Fig. 2 isa plan View of the governor to illustrate the pipe connections. Referring to Vthe drawings byv numerals and letters, like characters indicating like Ipiirl's in the several views, l denotes the I'steain valve, which seats upon a suitable valve-seat in the val'vecasing, which casing,l communicates 'on one side of the valve l with the radiating system of 'the train land on the other side of the valve with i the boiler', the inlet side or" the Valife i casing' being :it A and the outlet side at l B as clearly/'shown in Fig. l oi the drawings. This Valve casing surinount-ed by adiaphragm chamber which communicates ywithsaigl valve casing and .in which 1s placed f a diaphragm 2, which bears loosely upon the stem of thevalve l, said valve stem carrying` a perforated collar or spider 3 which l'nioves4 with an sliding litin the neck il of the i valve "casing, so 'as to Steady tlie'inovernents oi'tlieralve, ,Beneath the Valve l a light l spring` 5 is preferably placed, surrounding 'the tail oft-lie valve, and ot' suiiicient power f to counter-balance and elevate the valve, and l' liold it normally aga'ist its seat although such spring,4 not absolutely essential, as the l valve lai/ill operate under the Varyingand opposed pressures without this spring. Theiippeipai't ot the iliaphrzigin.cliaiiibei', zitiere Ithe. diaphragni is eiiiinected py means il a passano. (i, iiii'- 'i. rernor` which is coupled iiito the tri-iin linev or the signal line, said governor eoiiipi'isiiigg,4 :in outlet-pressiire-con!rolled diapliriiggiii is', which lie: "s iip'iiiiist the stem oi. :iii :tirs-inlet check valve i), which controls the port leading to the chamber l0 beneath the diaphragm. `The said diaphragm 8 is normally forced downwardly in position to open tliecheckvalve 9,by means of a spring ll surrounding the. diaphragm stem and compressed between the head of the diaphragm 8 and an abutment foi-ined by an adjustable sleeve 2, preferably screwihreadedinto'the top et' the air governor casing, and the tension of the spring4 1l may i i'. l i

up, so a'sito exert kgreater or less torce. as l the case may be,

upon the diaphragm sind pipe Y. with :iii-

be'raried by turning the sleeve l2 down or' diaphragm 2 be reduced for a suitable lock nut 13 being provided by will be seen that the pressure upon the dia phragm 2 may be varied by means of lthe automatic regulating diaphragm 8, so as to exert any desired number of pounds, from zero to maximum, upon the upper side of the diaphragm 2. ,It will be obvious that the diaphragm 2'being o en on'tli one-side to air pressureand on t e other side to steam pressure, will be balanccdpr equalized between these tivo pressures and that the stea'm valve 1, will be correspondingly controlled. For example, ifthe automatic airgovernor beset at 5 pounds,` the train line will give up 5 pounds pressure, and this, exerted upon the d1aphragm 1, wlll force said diaphragm downwardly and open up the steam vav 1 until thc steam pressure passing said valve 1 from the boiler to the train heating system equalizes diaphragm pressure, and so long as the air pressure is maintained on the diaphragm 2, the steam pressure in the radiatnig system will be accurately controlled andl regulated. Should thepressure above the any reason,

either accidentally or intentionally, the

steam valve 1 will at once close under steam pressure, and steam shutofi from the radiating-system of the train.

It will be seen that the operation of this controlling device for the heating medium is dependent upon the train line pressure or signal line pressure (for it may be connected with either line) being maintained, and that theA moment the train, line is reduced or destroyedq by breaking the pipe connection'on either side of the air gov Aorner, the automatic operation of the steam valve is effected.

li 'am aware that it has been proposed to control a diaphragm-operated steam valve froma source of air pressure, and l am as I am awarejI am the aware also that it has been proposed to Voperate a steam valve by the opposed actions. of train line pressure anda s ring,but so far rst toj disclose' a regulating valve which is balanced by opposed steam and air pressures with the airy pressure supply under the control of ,an air 1 governor, whereby a constant direct air pressure is exerted'on th'ediaphragm ino position to the steam pressure, and wit fthe elements so combinedA and 4arranged. as that pi e 14:v whichescasas failure of the air supply will `instantly relieve pressure on the other side of the diaphragm and eifect the closing of the stea.m

valve under the opposingsteam pressure.'

This construction gives a balanced 'condition and absolutely automatic action 'of the valve without the intervention of any intermediate devices to effect the operation of the valve, so that the action of t e regulator is uniform under working conditions and direct and instantaneous upon failure of air pressure. y

In the passage 7 ,between the pressure gov# ernor and the automatic valye, I place a' cutout and bleeder 17,'wh'ich has' a through passage 18 which is normally openas shown"in full lines, and a bleeder passage 9, which,-

when the cut-out is turned to block the assage 7, will open the chamber above iaphragm 2 to atmos )here through port 20 and relieve pressure. and bleeder-17 I secure a manualcontrol of the valve 1, for air pressure may be manuallyintermit-ted on the diaphragm 2 by turning the bleeder valve 17 to release osition, 'the valve' 17 when in this position re ieving pressure above diaphragm 2, which will then be lifted by steam pressure on the out-let s idefof y the uso ofthis cut-out the valve 1, and said valve 1 will close, cut` ting off the tlow of steam from the 'inlet"side; At the same time the hir. pressure coming from the governor will be cut oi bythe valve 17 so that air pressure in the train'- line or otherv source of pressure will not bleed A away. Preferably the usual a e andpopvalve connections 21'and 22 Wi l e providedA inthe passage 7, as conventionally indicated. In order thatthe water of condensation may be automatically cared for, I place in the cap nut 23 a valve 24 normally upheld by a spring 25, the water-cupped below valve 1 to blee through passagesf26 in the skirt 27 and passages 28 below the valve. It will bessen that by providing this valve 24 onthe inlet 'side 'of the steam valve 1 all water of condensa` 'so as to be open and ermit` away i tioirfwill be eiiectively drained from the value casing, nadat the same time the valve- 24- i`sf's`o disposed relative to the 'steam passages' that steampressure cannot'escape by way` oftsuch bleeder valve, for the construc-- tion giges a valve which is absolutely` free from W ter or mud pockets sothat-sedi-ment from impure water and steamlsupply .are i effectively cared for and no fouling'` of the apparatus can occur.v 4The saidvalye-2lr-is'so p aced with respect t0 thesteain alve nthat when the steam valve-opens'it valve 24@ is fseated byr the th stem- 29. g l

While I'have showna' part ment of my invention,it 'willl that the constructionmay be drainage varied 'y without. departing fmmvathd pnmms5n`,

esse@ 5e pressure, and a valre-eeutroliefl traina? .i5 easing, a source of air pressure,

motor subiect on one sifle to steam nressure i in said easingI to effect closing of said controiier valve, a pressure emineoiion from said source of air pressure delivering to the other side ot said pressure motor and normaliy exerting a constant valve-opening pressure thereon, and a pressure governor in said air pressure connection; the parts being so disposed that breaking of said pressure connection on either sido of said pressure governorwill relieve air pressure ou said motor and permit said controlling mire to close under steam pressure.

2. resuire controlling apparatus, couiprising, in Combination, a steam Yal've easing, au automatie-controlling-Valve in said Casus', a Aiuid pressure pipe` a fr-.li'e-fqusratiug diaphragm subject ou one o'wie to steam pressureto eiieet closing or' saifl controlling valve,

au air pressure connection fronrsair )Fluid pressure pipe to the other side of said iisp hraaxu to normaiiy vexert constant i, opening pres: re'thereon, an air governor in said air pressure vormen-,tion7 ancl manually operable means in said pressure connection to release 'air pressure on saidvcliap'negin and mamtain pressure 1n sald pressure oon-- neetlou and Huid pressure pipe..4

3. Pressure regulating apparatus oom- 40 prising', in combination. e Valve easing; having steam inlet and outlet ports.) a valve seat the upper surface of which 1s substantially zu une with the outlet port to eliminate Wafer pockets ou the outlet side of the rali-fev seat, an automatic controllingfaire on sani seati a source of air pressure, a valveepereting imi-tm: subject on one side to steam pressure to permit said Controlling valve to Giese, aurl ou the other side to mire-opening; air

vliamber on the inlet side sairi faire mg., an automatic controlling in sam relive-open :ning diaphragm subject on its fiersicle to pressure au@ on other sifie to pressure, ami a drainage relive on the inlet siffle oi said steam faire 'whieii is elosei'i when said steam valve is eigenem 5. Pressure eontrding; apparatus comprising, in Combinatie; ingr, anaetouraie eem. y easing, e .source .E air ating diaphragm subieet on one sie to steam pressure anni on the other side to air pres sure, e normally open drainage valve on the inles side of saiol steaxnvalveE and connections between said steam valve and said drainage `valve which operate to close seid drainage valve when the steam valve is opened.

6. Pressure `controllinff apparatus com- Y rising, in combination, a steamyalve cas ing, an automatic controlling valve in said easing a source of air pressure, a valve-operating diaphragm subjecton one side to steam pressure euri on the otiler side to air pressure, a wiambered drainage cap below said steam waive, a normally open drainage valve in sairl cap, and a valve stem extending from said steam 'valve and bearing against said elraiuage Yal've to ciose the drainage valve when sain steain valve is opened.

i. Fressure controlling apparatus @our g, in oomoii ion, a train line pipe, *valve easir eontroiling. naive in irl easing, valve-operating 'means loca/:eil ore seid valve to prevent drainage thereto subject te steers pressure from the outlet suie of sai-fi wire easing to effect closing of said controlling valve, and. a train line presser-ef connection normaiy delivering a constairs valve-opening pressure to the opposite of saii valve-ope1'amg means. llvjressure eontroliing f foeratus eoning, 'n combination, e tr in line pipe, aI ali-fe easing, a controlling valve in .nge a diaphragm Chamber above saifl ing retire in open communication. reim sind va've easing on the outlet side of seid vaive, e diaphragm in such chamber subject. on its under side to steam-outletpressure from ssivl Valve easing to e'eet Clos-- ing of seid controlling valvefr a train line pressure connection normally exerting a conetant valve-openinez pressure against the other side of saifl oiaphragm., and an air governor' in' said connection between said diaptmagin. anal train 'Pressure regulating-apparatus compris ing, in combination, e steam faire seeing' leaving inletanri oatiet ports7 a valve in said. easing, a diap'rragm chamber open to sai@ ea on the eutiet eide ot vi e diaphragm .in said jee @tee meutiepressnre on one side to eu et of controlling valve, a souree o* essere, en air pressure connection rielivering van. ,-opening pressure the other of riiap an air govemier in seid connection which automatically re iieifes saifll fiiapliragm upon failure of air pressure ro oonneemon.

" esure regalata-.g apparatus eo1uin eomsiustiom, e. steam valve oas i Jing iniet and outlet portsn a valve easing a soureo of pressure; and

valve-operating fneans ,Comprising a dia'- phragm subject on one side `to steam-out1etpressure to effect closing of said controlling valve, an air pressure connection normally means under normal conditions and automatcally operable to relieve pressure on said 1G regulating means upon failure of uir sappig? n said connection.

In testimony whereofl ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- JAMES A. EHCLS. Witnesses: v

,.F. H;l HILL,

R. S. OFFUTT. 

